Institutions - 21-10-2005 - 10:54
Championing human rights and democracy
As a directly elected democratic body, the European Parliament has been a keen champion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, both inside and outside the EU, ever since it was founded.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which is awarded each year to a person or organisation fighting against oppression and injustice, is one of the more visible ways in which MEPs seek to promote human rights and democracy. But Parliament has other tools at its disposal, including a special Subcommittee on Human Rights consisting of 31 MEPs from all 25 EU countries, for whom the monitoring and defence of human rights is the main focus of their daily work.
Each year Parliament publishes a report on human rights around the world. This report not only lists breaches of human rights, it also makes practical suggestions for improving matters. Some suggestions focus on specific cases while others take a broader view, calling for improved international agreements. And every month Parliament adopts three urgent resolutions on serious human rights violations or attacks on freedom of speech.
The Council (representing the various EU national governments) and the European Commission (the EU's executive body) regularly appear before MEPs, who can use this opportunity to press for action against countries which are flouting human rights or for steps to be taken on behalf of human rights activists who are under threat. Some recent cases are Belarus, Bolivia, Burma, China, Colombia, Iran, Nepal, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe. Parliament is currently working hard to ensure that human rights clauses in cooperation agreements with non-EU countries are properly enforced. These clauses provide for sanctions to be imposed on regimes responsible for serious human rights breaches or for an entire agreement to be suspended. Parliament also raises human rights issues in its contacts with the parliaments of countries where there are human rights problems.
A powerful tool which enables Parliament to back up its words with hard cash is the EU budget. Parliament can decide to allocate EU money to projects promoting human rights or democracy. Examples are independent radio and television broadcasts to Belarus and the creation of a university for the Albanian minority in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. But MEPs can also decide to scrap money for countries with a dismal human rights record, although they will maintain and sometimes even increase funds for human rights groups active in such countries, as has happened in the cases of Burma, Togo and Zimbabwe.
The annual award of the Sakharov Prize remains, however, the most tangible and visible means through which Parliament can honour people who put their own lives or freedom on the line in the fight for human dignity. The ceremony at which the Sakharov Prize winner receives the award is usually a very moving event. When Nurit Pelet-Elhanan, an Israeli woman campaigning for understanding between Israelis and Palestinians, made her acceptance speech upon receiving the prize in 2001, many MEPs and others were literally moved to tears.
For more information on this year's candidates as well as answers to frequently asked questions on the Sakharov Prize, see the home page of the Parliament website.
The final decision on the winner of the 2005 Sakharov Prize will be announced on our website on Wednesday 26 October.
Previous winners of the Sakharov Prize:
1988 Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko (posthumously)
1989 Alexander Dubcek
1990 Aung San Suu Kyi
1991 Adem Demaçi
1992 Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo
1993 Oslobodjenje
1994 Taslima Nasreen
1995 Leyla Zana
1996 Wei Jinsheng
1997 Salima Ghezali
1998 Ibrahim Rugova
1999 Xanana Gusmão
2000 ¡Basta Ya!
2001 Izzat Ghazzawi, Nurit Peled-Elhanan and Dom Zacarias Kamwenho
2002 Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas
2003 UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and all the UN staff
2004 Belarusian Association of Journalists
As a directly elected democratic body, the European Parliament has been a keen champion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, both inside and outside the EU, ever since it was founded.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which is awarded each year to a person or organisation fighting against oppression and injustice, is one of the more visible ways in which MEPs seek to promote human rights and democracy. But Parliament has other tools at its disposal, including a special Subcommittee on Human Rights consisting of 31 MEPs from all 25 EU countries, for whom the monitoring and defence of human rights is the main focus of their daily work.
Each year Parliament publishes a report on human rights around the world. This report not only lists breaches of human rights, it also makes practical suggestions for improving matters. Some suggestions focus on specific cases while others take a broader view, calling for improved international agreements. And every month Parliament adopts three urgent resolutions on serious human rights violations or attacks on freedom of speech.
The Council (representing the various EU national governments) and the European Commission (the EU's executive body) regularly appear before MEPs, who can use this opportunity to press for action against countries which are flouting human rights or for steps to be taken on behalf of human rights activists who are under threat. Some recent cases are Belarus, Bolivia, Burma, China, Colombia, Iran, Nepal, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe. Parliament is currently working hard to ensure that human rights clauses in cooperation agreements with non-EU countries are properly enforced. These clauses provide for sanctions to be imposed on regimes responsible for serious human rights breaches or for an entire agreement to be suspended. Parliament also raises human rights issues in its contacts with the parliaments of countries where there are human rights problems.
A powerful tool which enables Parliament to back up its words with hard cash is the EU budget. Parliament can decide to allocate EU money to projects promoting human rights or democracy. Examples are independent radio and television broadcasts to Belarus and the creation of a university for the Albanian minority in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. But MEPs can also decide to scrap money for countries with a dismal human rights record, although they will maintain and sometimes even increase funds for human rights groups active in such countries, as has happened in the cases of Burma, Togo and Zimbabwe.
The annual award of the Sakharov Prize remains, however, the most tangible and visible means through which Parliament can honour people who put their own lives or freedom on the line in the fight for human dignity. The ceremony at which the Sakharov Prize winner receives the award is usually a very moving event. When Nurit Pelet-Elhanan, an Israeli woman campaigning for understanding between Israelis and Palestinians, made her acceptance speech upon receiving the prize in 2001, many MEPs and others were literally moved to tears.
For more information on this year's candidates as well as answers to frequently asked questions on the Sakharov Prize, see the home page of the Parliament website.
The final decision on the winner of the 2005 Sakharov Prize will be announced on our website on Wednesday 26 October.
Previous winners of the Sakharov Prize:
1988 Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko (posthumously)
1989 Alexander Dubcek
1990 Aung San Suu Kyi
1991 Adem Demaçi
1992 Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo
1993 Oslobodjenje
1994 Taslima Nasreen
1995 Leyla Zana
1996 Wei Jinsheng
1997 Salima Ghezali
1998 Ibrahim Rugova
1999 Xanana Gusmão
2000 ¡Basta Ya!
2001 Izzat Ghazzawi, Nurit Peled-Elhanan and Dom Zacarias Kamwenho
2002 Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas
2003 UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and all the UN staff
2004 Belarusian Association of Journalists
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